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Looking back over the career of rocker David Lee Roth, there are clearly a number of distinct artistic phases.

There's the Van Halen frontman phase, in all its karate kickin', suspended-from-a-cable glory. Then there was the post-VH, Just a Gigolo solo phase, marked by long periods of inactivity and brief flashes of fame. This was followed by what historians are now calling the "Did you see how strung out Dave looked on the MTV Video Music Awards?" phase, which sort of speaks for itself.

Where is Dave now? Some might say he's in the retro phase, what with his summer tour full o' Van Halen rehashes with Sammy Hagar.

But it could also be argued that Roth is in the give-a-car-to-charity phase.

Cindy Boehmer, auction director for WOSU-TV, learned of this phase when she phoned Roth's representatives recently. She wondered if Dave might donate something that could be auctioned off during the Channel 34 fund-raiser's "Rock 'n' Roll Night."

"All I was asking for was an autographed photo or something," Boehmer said. "They said, 'Well, would you like a car?'"

Roth—who no doubt had more than one vehicle in his garage during the glory days—offered his 1986 Mercedes Benz SEC.

"It's in good condition. I won't say it's in excellent condition," Boehmer said.

After last weekend's bidding, the high bid for the Davemobile was at $12,000. Boehmer expects that figure to go up. Bidding for all items started again Wednesday on the air and on WOSU.org, and will continue through Saturday.

A Benz of that age and condition has a book value of about $17,000, Boehmer said. But with the celebrity factor involved, it's impossible put a dollar figure on it.

For one thing, it comes complete with a driving helmet (presumably signed by Dave himself, Boehmer said). And there have been a few customizations to the vehicle.

The front seat has been lowered. (Dave presumable liked to ride low. Maybe it has something to do with that line from Panama: "Reach down between my legs/ ease the seat back….")

Moving right along, Boehmer was charmed by what was on the dashboard. Turns out Dave had a "death ray," a not-so-famous bit of 1980s nostalgia. If driver ticks you off, flip the switch and the death ray makes noise that the driver who cut you off will never hear, but it might make you feel better.

Boehmer said there was a bit of an issue between her and Roth's agents about who would pay the shipping costs on the vehicle. Roth stepped in (or perhaps spinning-roundhouse-kicked in) and solved that right away: He'd cover it.

The WOSU auction is one of the most successful around, taking public TV's Best Auction award (Who knew that award existed?) the past six years. This year's goal is $300,000, and Boehmer said they were half way there after the opening weekend.

Besides the Benz, you can also bid on such things as a swimming pool, a backyard pond and waterfall installation, and services from something called Hardwoods of Yesteryear, a company that harvests wood from old barns and turns it into floors.

Originally posted by Jonathan:Looking back over the career of rocker David Lee Roth, there are clearly a number of distinct artistic phases.

There's the Van Halen frontman phase, in all its karate kickin', suspended-from-a-cable glory. Then there was the post-VH, Just a Gigolo solo phase, marked by long periods of inactivity and brief flashes of fame. This was followed by what historians are now calling the "Did you see how strung out Dave looked on the MTV Video Music Awards?" phase, which sort of speaks for itself.

Where is Dave now? Some might say he's in the retro phase, what with his summer tour full o' Van Halen rehashes with Sammy Hagar.

But it could also be argued that Roth is in the give-a-car-to-charity phase.

Cindy Boehmer, auction director for WOSU-TV, learned of this phase when she phoned Roth's representatives recently. She wondered if Dave might donate something that could be auctioned off during the Channel 34 fund-raiser's "Rock 'n' Roll Night."

"All I was asking for was an autographed photo or something," Boehmer said. "They said, 'Well, would you like a car?'"

Roth—who no doubt had more than one vehicle in his garage during the glory days—offered his 1986 Mercedes Benz SEC.

"It's in good condition. I won't say it's in excellent condition," Boehmer said.

After last weekend's bidding, the high bid for the Davemobile was at $12,000. Boehmer expects that figure to go up. Bidding for all items started again Wednesday on the air and on WOSU.org, and will continue through Saturday.

A Benz of that age and condition has a book value of about $17,000, Boehmer said. But with the celebrity factor involved, it's impossible put a dollar figure on it.

For one thing, it comes complete with a driving helmet (presumably signed by Dave himself, Boehmer said). And there have been a few customizations to the vehicle.

The front seat has been lowered. (Dave presumable liked to ride low. Maybe it has something to do with that line from Panama: "Reach down between my legs/ ease the seat back….")

Moving right along, Boehmer was charmed by what was on the dashboard. Turns out Dave had a "death ray," a not-so-famous bit of 1980s nostalgia. If driver ticks you off, flip the switch and the death ray makes noise that the driver who cut you off will never hear, but it might make you feel better.

Boehmer said there was a bit of an issue between her and Roth's agents about who would pay the shipping costs on the vehicle. Roth stepped in (or perhaps spinning-roundhouse-kicked in) and solved that right away: He'd cover it.

The WOSU auction is one of the most successful around, taking public TV's Best Auction award (Who knew that award existed?) the past six years. This year's goal is $300,000, and Boehmer said they were half way there after the opening weekend.

Besides the Benz, you can also bid on such things as a swimming pool, a backyard pond and waterfall installation, and services from something called Hardwoods of Yesteryear, a company that harvests wood from old barns and turns it into floors.

But none of it is as sweet as Roth's ride.

"It's the coolest thing we've ever had," Boehmer said.

Looks Like ol' Dave is a pretty good guy, eh'?? [img]graemlins/devil.gif[/img]

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